School sees something afoul with overflowing recycling bin

Sometimes, it's tough to keep up with the recycling pickups at Weinland Park Elementary School, head custodian Keith Williams said.

Sometimes, it's tough to keep up with the recycling pickups at Weinland Park Elementary School, head custodian Keith Williams said.

Pickups are supposed to be weekly at the school on E. 7th Avenue, but Williams says that's not always the case. The bin, which is also a drop-off location for the community, is to be emptied every Friday. Recently, he said, it sat unemptied for at least two weeks.

School officials reported the problem to the Solid Waste Authority of Central Ohio, which has drop-off recycling locations throughout Franklin County.

"It's been going on for a while," Williams said, adding that he has picked up the overflow. "If you want people to recycle, you have to give them a place to recycle. It's an unsightly mess."

J.D. Compston, environmental programs manager at SWACO, said that recycled materials are scheduled for a weekly pickup but that sometimes there are calls for additional pickups. He noted that the bin might fill faster because it's regularly used by the school, the community and other groups that also use the school building.